It’s funny how it takes a couple years of living in a space to really understand it.
When we first moved into our house back in 2013, I was adamant that the first large scale project we should take on would be to knock out the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make it more of an open space. I envisioned the counter extending into the dining room with barstools tucked underneath, very similar to the layout of our townhouse. But somehow making structural changes to the space fell low on the list, and two years later, I can safely say that would have been a terrible idea.
Instead, over the last couple of months, I’ve been focusing on making some updates to our dining room (no hardhats or sledge hammers required). I’ve been on the lookout for new and/or vintage dining room tables, chairs, rugs, and ceramics to round out the space.
Our old dining room table was too large and the wrong shape for the space. It also desperately needed to be refinished, a project that we didn’t seem too enthused about. Instead, we scoured antique shops from Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago to find the perfect mid-century modern table that had the thin lines and angles to match the rest of our house. After three months of searching, I gave up and started looking online. West Elm turned out to have the perfect table, and we did find some fantastic chairs at the vintage shops and garage sales along the way. The rug, which mirrors the Ikat pattern of our living room rug, came from All Modern.
With all the new pretty furniture in our dining room, I wanted to upgrade some of the planters and vases to match. The obvious choice was to go with Toast, a local ceramics studio run by Jackie Matelski. Jackie’s work can be found all over Madison (from Zip Dang on Monroe Street to Hatch Art House on Willy) as well as national stores like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and West Elm. And of course, she has her own Etsy store where you can see her full collection.
I absolutely adore the organic shapes, colors, and patterns of all of Toast’s pieces. They’re functional and perfectly crafted, and I can appreciate the skill it takes to churn out impeccable pieces like these, especially after taking a pottery class last year and ending up with these plates and bowls that look like a third grader made them.
You’ll be seeing more of Toast on the blog here, as I also picked up some bowls to use for food prep photos. And, Toast is generous enough to giveaway one of their vases (pictured below) to a lucky Things I Made Today reader!
To enter to win the vase, follow @toastceramics and @thingsimadetoday on Instagram and leave a comment below. A winner will be selected at random on July 1! Bonus for readers: use coupon code TIMT20 to get 20% off any item in Toast’s Etsy store through the end of July!
What paint color did you use in your living room?
writes alisonIt’s a pretty clean white, we actually didn’t paint it ourselves, it was this color when we bought it!
writes VickyI want that vase! You’re the coolest
writes MelanieI’m obsessed with that orange & white piece (with the succulents). Consider me entered.
writes WhitneySo cute! Love your new table, Vicki! I thought the chairs came with it, it looks so good!
writes SierraSuch beautiful pieces. Thank you for the opportunity to win!
writes AnneCongrats Anne! You are the winner :). I’ll be reaching out to you via email soon.
writes VickyLove the furniture and obsesses with the vase!
writes Beth SchultzHow did you choose Toast Ceramics out of all the local potters (I’m asking as a Toast fan)?
writes laura beck nielsenHey Laura – Toast’s style most matches mine, and I’m a big fan of Jackie!
writes VickyLove what you’ve done here, Vic, and those vases are beautiful! Goes to show that sometimes its worth the wait to find exactly what you’re looking for! :)
writes RochelleI moved from Madison to Seattle two years ago, but remember seeing–and loving–Jackie’s products. Such a talented woman :) I love what you’ve done with the dining room. The mix-matched chairs are perfection.
writes KateI recently saw Toast at an indie craft fair in Chicago. I fell in love with all of it!
writes FaithLove the Toast pottery! Going to the Etsy store next! Thanks for sharing!
writes KrisFollowing both – jenannhayden. Love the room – Gorgeous!!!
writes Jennifer H.Want the vase!
writes Erin KlugCame together beautifully!! The pottery is pretty incredible!
writes Andrea